Anne Hegerty says she'd be 'muddling along on benefits' if it weren't for 'The Chase' role

Anne Hegerty has said she would be on benefits if she hadn't have landed the part of a chaser on ITV quiz show The Chase.

The 61-year-old, who was diagnosed with autism in her mid-40s, opened up on how different her life could've been during an appearance on Loose Women on Monday.

"If I hadn't got the job I would've been muddling along on benefits and trying to get off benefits and actually earn enough as an academic proofreader," she told the panellists.

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The Governess went on to say how she "wasn't good at keeping up with the paperwork" and that her autism meant she had difficulties with multitasking.

She went on: "Just by chance I happened to meet someone who told me there was a high level quizzing circuit and I got on the quizzing circuit, that's how I heard about the existence of The Chase and then the woman who ran the circuit said to me 'what do you think about being a chaser?' And I was like 'yeah'."

The quizzer has previously divulged that she was using benefits before she found fame and on the brink of becoming homeless.

She's been a mainstay on the programme, having starred on it every series since she signed up in 2010.

Hegerty has also spoken about her status as a famous person with Asperger's, disclosing that she wasn't "looking" to be "the face of autism".

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Her role on The Chase has led to other TV opportunities, including becoming an I'm A Celebrity campmate in 2018.

She discussed her diagnosis while on the programme in a move which was praised by the National Autistic Society.